Nearly 80% Pakistanis feel COVID-19 'now under control': survey

A recently conducted survey by Gallup Pakistan has found that nearly 80% of Pakistanis believe that the novel coronavirus is "now under control implying that fear has subsided and perhaps it's time to go back to a pre-COVID-19 lifestyle".

The survey was conducted between July 9 and August 10, to which 1,326 people responded.

Gallup Pakistan's usual methodology is to conduct face-to-face interviews but due to the coronavirus outbreak, the method used was Random Digit Dialling.  In this approach "all mobile phone numbers in Pakistan (130 million active sims) are the universe", the research firm said in detailed notes provided at the end of the survey.

A few key findings of the survey are shared below:

Federal government's response

When asked about the federal government's performance against the coronavirus, 69% of those surveyed said they were satisfied with the performance. Only 28% said they were dissatisfied. The remaining 4% chose not to respond.

In the previous survey, 67% were satisfied with the performance and 28% were dissatisfied.

Province wise, 76% people from Balochistan, 69% people each from Punjab and Sindh, and 64% people from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were satisfied with the government's handling of the crisis.

The highest dissatisfaction rate, 32%, was in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, followed by 25% in Punjab and 24% each in Sindh and Balochistan.

Reopening of businesses, schools

The survey found that the demand for lifting the coronavirus restrictions was gaining momentum.

In this regard, 89% of people supported opening more businesses, while 6% oppose the move and said they do not support it.

On the question of reopening of educational institutions, 88% of the respondents said they would send their kids to schools while 10% opposed it.

The remaining 2% chose not to answer.

'Back to normal'

When asked to comment on how soon they think life will get back to normal, 27% of them hoped that normalcy will return in three months, 15% said six months, 13% one year, 7% two years, and 3% of the respondents said it would take more than two years. 

Meanwhile, 34% of them said they are not sure how long it would take.

'What would you do as PM?'

They were also asked to comment on whether they would impose a lockdown if they were the prime minister. In response, 58% of the Pakistanis surveyed voted against such restrictions, while 37% of them agreed to imposing a lockdown to stop the spread coronavirus.

The remaining 5% opted to reserve their opinion on the matter.

Ehsaas Programme benefits

On the Ehsaas Programme, 20% said they received the cash grant while 64% of the respondents said they did not receive any benefit. 

The other 16% did not respond to the question.